


of sunbeams and barley tea

by pinkfen



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Confessions, Crushes, Flirting, Fluff, Getting Together, Kissing, M/M, Public Groping, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Slice of Life, Strangers to Lovers, Summer Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, switching partners, there's NO infidelity in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:40:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28048617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkfen/pseuds/pinkfen
Summary: It was the hottest time on the hottest day of the hottest season of the year, and Jaemin and Jeno were on a double date with their respective girlfriends at an open-air cafe. The flies were buzzing restlessly in the heat, circling their plates of half-eaten watermelon and glasses of barley tea outside, their girlfriends probably getting impatient waiting for them and wondering what was taking them so long, but both of them were lingering in the grimy and cramped male toilet, slowly washing their hands.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 2
Kudos: 62





	of sunbeams and barley tea

**Author's Note:**

> this is gotchick! :) i created another account bc i wanted to rework a couple of my got7 fics for nct but didn’t want to clog up my ao3 with reworks as i felt that would be nagl lol. this is a rework of a ficlet from my got7 collection ‘24 hours’ which can be found on my main account.
> 
> as the tags for this fic say, there’s no infidelity in this fic despite how it sounds so dw ab that,, its hard to explain how but you’ll understand after reading haha

It was the hottest time on the hottest day of the hottest season of the year, and Jaemin and Jeno were on a double date with their respective girlfriends at an open-air cafe. The flies were buzzing restlessly in the heat, circling their plates of half-eaten watermelon and glasses of barley tea outside, their girlfriends probably getting impatient waiting for them and wondering what was taking them so long, but both of them were lingering in the grimy and cramped male toilet, slowly washing their hands.

Out of nowhere, Jaemin said, casually: "Jisung's cheating on me."

Jeno's eyes flicked sharply to his in the mirror. Jaemin didn't look different than normal, his nonchalant poker face unruffled as he carefully dried his hands with a paper towel. Jeno's brow creased as he studied him and took in the news.

Instead of asking _Why are you telling me this? Or What business is your girlfriend of mine?_ what came out of his mouth was:

"Why are you still here then?”

There was a loaded pause, suspended in the stifling summer heat, before Jaemin finally turned to face Jeno, leveling his eyes at him. They were inscrutable as he said, voice low:

"I don't know."

But he took a step towards Jeno, eyes never leaving him, seeming to be studying him closely.

Jeno didn't know why he said what he did next.

"Chenle and I decided to take a break a few days ago.”

This time, the silence between them was absolute, both of the bombshells they just dropped on each other hanging between them like elephants in the room.

Jeno continued scrutinizing Jaemin silently. Honestly, he didn't know him well, because they didn't go to the same school although they were the same age. They only met at the start of the summer when their girlfriends introduced them, because they were best friends. Since then, they had been on a few double dates. But they had never interacted alone before, except when their girlfriends left to touch up their makeup in the bathroom together.

“Why are you here then?"

Jaemin shot his earlier question back at him now, throwing Jeno for a loop because he honestly didn't know how to answer. But Chenle had pleaded with him to come along, explaining that she didn't want to let Jisung know they had broken up when the summer was coming to an end and the news would most certainly spoil Jisung's -- who was a very sensitive and caring friend -- summer. And it had been such a perfect one, despite how their relationship turned out. It was an amicable separation too, and they had decided to remain (slightly awkward) friends.

After the summer, Chenle had promised. After the summer, she would tell Jisung everything and they didn't need to hang out together anymore. He wouldn't have any occasion to see Jaemin again either, Jeno idly realised, since they would be going off to colleges in different towns.

And because Chenle's eyes had been so prettily red-rimmed, her puppylike pout still as cute as ever, he relented and came along.

Now, he found himself more than a little surprised at Jaemin's revelation, because he hadn't sensed any tension between him and Jisung. They seemed to be their usual bantering, squabbling, touchy and affectionate selves, flirting shamelessly with each other across the table and in front of their friends in a way he had gotten used to by now.

He wondered if Chenle knew, then felt a curious spike of anger at the thought that she had helped Jisung hide a secret which would hurt Jaemin.

Then he blinked in confusion, not understanding why he was getting upset on behalf of Jaemin. He didn't even know the guy's last name, for heaven's sake. They weren't friends.

But now, they found themselves at a stalemate of sorts, unable to answer each other's decidedly friendlike questions.

Had Jaemin turned up at his girlfriend's bequest too, keeping the peace till the end of this dreamy summer, like him?

Or was it something else?

Something like…

The heat was melting his brain, addling his mind and clouding his senses as Jaemin closed the remaining distance between them with a couple more strides and then his hands were sliding up lightly from Jeno's hips to below his arms, and Jeno was being lifted off his feet to sit on the sink with surprisingly strong and steady arms.

He could feel Jaemin's wiry biceps beneath his hands which had instinctively moved down to clutch at them, feeling like solid muscle. They rippled beneath his touch and Jaemin crowded closer, between his legs.

It was hard to breathe, his breaths shallow in his lungs and sunbeams blurring his vision as a shudder ran through him and he backed away in confusion, shrunk against the mirror. The cold and hard metal faucet dug with sobering pain into his back.

"What --" his voice sounded hoarse, squeaky, afraid, "What are you doing?" His hands were still on Jaemin's arms, holding him at arm's length by sheer brute force. Through the threadbare fabric of his t-shirt, the temperature of Jaemin's skin was searing.

Jaemin held him still, firmly but gently. He seemed determined to say something.

"Jeno," he whispered, saying Jeno's name for the first time since they met.

Jeno looked at him, face burning.

"Can I kiss you?" Jaemin asked softly.

He wasn't aware he nodded, but he must have, because the next minute Jaemin was surging forward breathlessly and their lips were colliding, like worlds Jeno thought abstractly, or universes on their axises.

Jaemin's lips were far softer than he had imagined a boy's would be. Not that he had ever imagined kissing any boy in his life. Least of all Jaemin.

But here he was, not pushing him away, enjoying it even -- the hesitant and nervous, almost tender probing of Jaemin's chapped but moist and plump lips against his, a chaste and light kiss deepening.

When Jeno parted his lips slightly, Jaemin let out a garbled moan and eagerly slipped his tongue into Jeno's mouth. His hands came up to cup Jeno's cheeks when the tips of their tongues brushed, and Jeno could feel his pulse quickening dizzily against his skin.

The faucet was still pressing achingly into his spine, and he was far too heavy and big to fit onto the porcelain basin of the rusting and grimy sink, but they continued kissing without surfacing for air for far longer than he had ever kissed anyone.

How could kissing a boy be so mesmerizing, so breathtaking, so addicting?

How could kissing _Jaemin_ be?

”I don't even know your last name," Jeno gasped, pulling away with difficulty as Jaemin chased his lips with his, already clinging on to him like a koala with an overaffection that reminded him unsettlingly of his manner with Jisung.

Then swiftly, before Jaemin even had the chance to suck in a breath of oxygen and reply: "Am I a rebound?"

Jaemin inhaled sharply and deeply, then looked offended as he retorted, "Hell no, I wanted to kiss you since the first day we met," and then in a softened voice: "It's Na.”

Jeno blushed at the lazy crooked smile on Jaemin's alarmingly handsome face and the way he silently but admiringly ran his eyes down the line of Jeno's body, hands tightening around his shoulders.

"What about yours?" Jaemin gazed searchingly into his eyes, as though he wanted to know everything about Jeno.

"I-It's Lee,” Jeno stuttered nervously, still distracted by Jaemin's previous statement. He had had his eye on Jeno from their first meeting? In some ways, this explained the strange tension he had felt between them, crackling across the table as Jaemin's eyes locked with his over their glasses of tea.

So it hadn't been awkward or competitive -- but sexual.

”Jeno Lee,” Jaemin repeated thoughtfully, eyes glassy, and Jeno felt a tremor ripple through him.

Jaemin felt it too, his gaze snapping back to Jeno's and eyes sharp as his lip slowly curled into a teasing, self-satisfied smirk.

"Does it turn you on?" He leaned forward again, voice low. Their faces were mere inches away, and Jeno slipped his tongue out anxiously to lick his lips. Jaemin followed the movement with his eyes, then slowly looked back up at him.

"You like it when I call your name, Jeno?" he repeated, voice sensual and husky.

Jeno swallowed hard, throat working. Jaemin's breath ghosted over his lips and then he found himself magnetized forward, fingers coming up to curl in a fistful of Jaemin's shirt as he attacked Jaemin's lips ravenously again.

They were just as delicious as the first time.

When they broke apart to take deep rattling breaths, Jaemin cradled the back of his head and whispered in his ear hotly:

"Say my name."

Jeno's eyes widened, mouth falling open and lips moving wordlessly a few times before he breathed like a prayer, like an incantation:

" _Jaemin_."

There was a soft intake of breath as Jaemin's eyes darkened dangerously, pulling him in again.

They didn't know how long they kissed, but by the time they managed to stop again Jeno was shaken to see Jaemin's lips abused and puffy and swollen, reddened in a way that looked suspiciously just-kissed. His eyes and hair were wild, unfocused with lust and his hand had found its way down Jeno's torso to squeeze his crotch with a roughness that made his stomach clench with a gathering pool of heat.

His legs were spread wantonly wide around Jaemin's powerful thighs and he could feel his cock throbbing so achingly he was sure Jaemin could feel it through the thin fabric of both their clothes.

Jaemin grabbed his hand and brought it down to press against his own crotch. He recoiled initially, then heard himself panting as he kneaded it eagerly with his fingers, thrilled and giddy at the way it hardened beneath his touch.

Jaemin groaned, his voice slurred with panic, "We have to go out. What if they come to look for us?”

The thought of the possibility of innocent, sweet Chenle walking in and finding them in this compromising position was what finally stopped Jeno cold. He felt like he could easily stay on this uncomfortable, cold and hard sink for the rest of the day, making out with Jaemin till their lips were numb, but they had their responsibilities to their ex-girlfriends.

At least, he hoped Jaemin and Jisung were over too.

He wondered, heart beating like a hummingbird in his chest as Jaemin gallantly helped him down from the sink and steadied him with a discreet arm when his knees wobbled. Jeno's head felt light as he leaned against Jaemin's torso and broad chest, firm as a barrel. He was taller and bigger than Jaemin, but Jaemin felt so much stronger than him in every other way.

They held hands for a few, heart-stopping seconds, but let go of each other's fingers reluctantly when they exited the toilet into the light of day. The dazzling late afternoon sunlight blinded him for an instant and he squinted, shading his eyes.

Their plates of watermelon and drinks were still on the table, but Chenle and Jisung were nowhere to be seen. Jeno's heart stuttered in alarm.

Jaemin looked pale beneath his beach tan too, strands of his floppy, too-long bleach blond hair catching the sun in shimmering gold highlights as he bent to pick up something he noticed lying on the table. Jeno's heart caught, distracted. How had he never noticed that Jaemin was beautiful?

"Jeno." Jaemin's voice was strangely flat. He was holding out a small piece of creased notebook paper. "You better see this."

The note was brief, merely reading:

_Jaemin oppa, I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you face-to-face but didn’t have the courage. The truth is, I’ve fallen for someone else._

_I’ve fallen in love with Chenle._

_I’m sorry. I still care for you and hope we can be friends._

_Love, Jisung_

Jeno's heart skipped a beat when he saw Chenle's unmistakable graceful and girlish signature below Jisung's name. She hadn't written anything, not surprising for her characteristic reserve, but he could almost hear her mellow, fluting voice murmuring regretfully, _I’m sorry, Jeno oppa_.

He looked up to see Jaemin staring at him speechlessly, stunned. He stared back, unsure of what to say. The news had hit both of them like a truck.

But then Jeno's heart jumped into his throat to see a glimmer of light creeping into Jaemin's eyes, lightening the dark shadow of guilt that had made them heavy and serious from the time they started kissing.

Jaemin reached down quietly, and threaded their fingers together. His hand was large and callused, enveloping Jeno's in comfortable warmth.

"Jeno," Jaemin said, looking at him meaningfully. His eyes were dancing with mischief but his face was solemn.

"Yes?" Jeno stammered and blushed, looking down in a fluster.

Jaemin laughed, and it was the most lyrical music Jeno had ever heard in his life.

He felt by now-familiar lips brushing against the shell of his ear, leading his heartbeat into overdrive again. His heart soared as Jaemin said, softly but sincerely:

“Lee Jeno, I like you.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! if you enjoyed, do drop me a lil kudos.
> 
> jsyk my renhyuck nation homies i also posted a renhyuck ficlet earlier uwu
> 
> you can check out the other works posted on this account, as well as the rest of my nomin fics on gotchick @ ao3 if you like my writing :)


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